Nausicaa Valley of the Wind
by LyrebirdJacki
Summary: takes place after the ending of the movie, read it, i'm not going to spoil it for you in the summary :P
1. Chapter 1

Nausicaa lay in the crisp grass; she was fiddling with singular strands of grass between her finger-tips and let out a deep sigh. She had her eyes half closed and her lips partly open; it was truly a beautiful afternoon to be outside and away from the noise of the Valley. The clouds were tinted with orange and purple, afternoon colours, sprays of light breaking through shining over into the forest in the distance. Birds chirping happily together, calling for mates in the last hours of the day, it seemed everything was just right, nothing to fear. Nausicaa soaked in this afternoon like a sponge and slowly closed her eyes, drifting off without noticing, she was asleep.

"Hey Nausicaa, come here for a second please." A voice yelled over all the commotion. Nausicaa scanned the crowd like an alert dog and noticed a body half hidden behind a house. She pushed through many people until she was out of sight and met up with the figure that had called her.

"Asbel? What are you doing here, we have been looking for you all morning, and you're supposed to be leaving with Lord Yupa again today." Asbel put on a smile and put his hands out together.

"Close your eyes, I want to give you something before I go." Nausicaa hesitated but she closed her eyes and cupped her hands in-front of herself. She felt Asbel place something in her hands, it was very light, but it felt sharp, like it had little spikes. Nausicaa opened her eyes to see a complete baby ohmu shell perched on her palms. It shined in the morning sunlight; she could see right through it, it was so delicate in appearance, although deceiving as it was tougher than the purest steel.

"Where did you find it? It's wonderful!" Asbel scratched his head and smiled even wider.

"Last time I was with Yupa exploring the country, we stumbled across it in a deserted village, it was just lying there, so I took it with me for tool material, but I couldn't bare such a item to be broken, you like it?" Nausicaa caressed the shell like a mother to a baby, a slight childish grin breaching her face.

"Of course, I'm glad you kept it, but you should be going now, everyone is getting worked up about you missing." Asbel ran out into the open and towards the group of people, joining with Yupa. Asbel mounted a large black bird and tugged its reins back to make it step slightly back a few steps, catching Nausicaa in the corner of his eyes and waved. Yupa rode a bird that looked identical to the one Asbel had mounted towards the boy and ruffled his hair, while a grin behind his bushy beard.

"Said your goodbyes yet? We will be gone awhile before our next return, so make sure you're ready."

"Yeah, I'm ready got everything?" Nausicaa made her way up to the large birds they were on top of, looking up at the men riding them. Yupa looked down upon her and placed his large hand on the top of her head. She had a look of excitement and happiness yet distraught which was hidden away. His gaze rested upon a small object resting in her arms.

"Did he finally give you that ohmu shell did he?" The girl looked up so they're eyes met.

"Yes he did, isn't it wonderful? Not even a scratch on it, I love it to bits." Yupa took a hold of his mount's reins and turned it and it started to trot off away from the Valley, Asbel went up to Nausicaa and patted her back.

"We'll see you all soon, don't get us wrong." And at that the bird galloped after the older man, Nausicaa watched them both disappear as the sun rose; she had a feeling that they were going to be more than just a quick trip. She took in a deep breath and exhaled, slowly everyone left to get back to their chores for the day, Nausicaa being the last one.

"Come back soon you two."


	2. Chapter 2

Nausicaa shot up into a sitting position covered in sweat, she found herself in her own room with a blanket thrown over the top of her. She breathed heavily, yet she found it was strange since she didn't have a nightmare or anything. She walked over towards the window and looked over her kingdom, and then she realized it was morning.

"Oh god I slept in." she whispered as she skidded across the hallways until she got outside, face to face with Mito.

"Oh g'morning Princess, have a good sleep did we?" he snickered as he saw her expression of worry cover her face.

"Sorry Mito, I was supposed to help out in the fields yesterday, why didn't you wake me up to help?" Mito shook his head and snickered to himself.

"Well you just looked so peaceful lying in the grass, I couldn't bring myself to wake you, and so I put you in your room so you could sleep the day off. You shouldn't worry yourself too much Princess; it's not good for your mind." Nausicaa slowed herself down and massaged her temples.

"I guess you're right Mito, I've been awfully similar to a headless chook, running around trying to help out with everything, I'm under so much pressure now, I hope you understand."

"It's ok Princess, I'd admit if I was galloping around like you have been the past few months I'd be pretty stressed, oh and by the way, the workers need you in the fields today for the harvest, they didn't finish yesterday, if that's ok with you." Nausicaa put on as much of a straight face as she could to ease Mito's concerns for her a bit to avoid any further conversation about her.

"Ok, I'll be there after I find something to eat, heard anything of Lord Yupa yet?" Mito shook his head frankly. At that Nausicaa strutted outside to soak in the morning.

Nausicaa made her way towards the wheat fields, being stopped by a group of children. A little girl wrapped her arms tightly around Nausicaa's legs and smiled up to her.

"Good morning Princess, you out working today?" the little girl giggled as Nausicaa lifted her up and placed her on the ground next to her friends.

"Yes I am, I slept in yesterday so I need to make up for it today, and I'm going to work extra hard so I don't think I can play today." The children all laughed together cheekily.

"Mito told us that you were sleeping on the job again and not to disturb you." A little boy exclaimed, all the children giggled again. Nausicaa smiled and squatted so she was eye level with the younger children, though some where taller over the years that had past.

"Well you should go and play now, according to Mito's terms; you would be disturbing me right now wouldn't you?"

"We wanted to show you something Princess, but you can't tell anyone ok?" Nausicaa node and took the smallest child's hand, lightly gripping his small fingers as she stood up to her full height.

"Ok but you better be quick, I don't want to skip another day's work, but I promise I won't tell anyone."


	3. Chapter 3

"Asbel! Quick hurry over here, I need your assistance right now." Asbel covered his eyes from the raging sandstorm and made his way over to the invisible voice that was calling him. All his clothes were heavy, filled with sand and sweat.

"Where are you Yupa? I cant find you anywhere." Asbel squinted his eyes as much as he could to avoid the sand from filling his eyes, but whatever he did he still got blinded by the hot gritty sand.

"Find yourself cover quickly, we'll reunite after the storm has cleared, do you have a flare with you?" Asbel searched his robes and pockets, no flare.

"Yupa, I don't have a flare, what about you?" Yupa's voice started to disappear over the howling of the ferocious wind. Asbel covered his eyes with his arm again and scanned the vast desert, only to find a large rock-like shape in the distance. He closed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating and started to walk towards it. As he got closer to the object, a rotten smell filled the air, burning both his eyes and nose. He progressed, ignoring the smell until he realized that the rock was a ohmu, a dead ohmu. He stopped in his steps and started coughing hard, sand finding it way through the opening as soon as it could, making it even harder to bare the situation. He then started progressing further to the dead ohmu, until he got up to the decaying body.

The ohmu was on its side, most of its legs missing and its stomach torn open in mid decay. Asbel placed one of his hands against the stomach; unlike the outer shell it was quite soft. He took in a deep breath and started hauling out the insides to make enough room for himself until the storm subsided. The smell was so putrid; Asbel could feel his insides mourn by every inhale he made, the smell so unbearable. Asbel moved inside the carcass, watching the storm brew on the outside, glad he wasn't in it anymore. The breeze was almost completely still inside the ohmu, although the thought of being out in the sandstorm being better than this crossed his mind several times over. Then Lord Yupa crossed his mind, him being out in the storm by himself, searching for Kai and Kui which had gone missing in the beginning of the storm. Asbel looked down at his gloves; they were blood-stained and putrid from dragging all the corpse's innards out into the desert. Luckily, the craving for food wasn't a problem anymore. He looked out into the desert, noticing it was calming down greatly. Asbel walked out of the carcass and scanning the desert for Lord Yupa, which was nowhere to be seen. Asbel shifted his feet into a defensive position and unshelthed his knife that was attached to his belt.

"What was that?" Asbel watched the dead ohmu, something was rustling inside the body. He took a few steps backwards, keeping his eye sharply on the ohmu's body while positioning himself for a full sprint. His heart was bashing against his ribs, feeling like as if it were to burst any minute, the suspense was pulling him to a frightening state. He wanted to run, but he wanted to know what it was, a feeling crept over him of danger. Asbel started to move backwards, about to turn away and bolt, until it revealed itself. A large black animal-figure stepped out of the carcass; the sunlight shining over its dark black plumage. Asbel felt relief fill his body and relax, Kui trotted towards him, she was absolutely covered with the stench of the rotting insect, but Asbel wasn't any better.

"You had me there girl, where's Kai and Yupa?" He ruffled the bird's feathers up and down, the bird opened its large beak and gripped Asbel's arm firmly and rubbed its tongue against his arm playfully.

A second bird stepped out from the carcass and quickly ran towards Asbel and Kui. Kai seemed a lot more frightened and was shaking from head to toe. Asbel placed both his hands at either side of Kai's face and playfully patted him to help calm the bird down a bit. Asbel reached into his bag, pulled out a rope and tied it around Kai's reins and attached it to Kui's. He mounted Kui and headed off into the desert in search of Lord Yupa.

There were no signs of any sort of shelter that Yupa could of found to hide in, and there were no signs of a wandering human to be seen for miles. Asbel sheiled his eyes from the sun, the were blurred from all the sand, but he could still see reasonably well. Kai made a loud honking noise which caught Asbel's attention. Kai pulled the rope which made Kui pull towards him as he tried to run off. Asbel gripped the reins to stop them from moving and jumped off Kui. He saw something in the sand a few metres away, he walked the two birds with him, saying kind words to calm them, Kai jerked the rope and broke free of Asbel's grip and dragged Kui towards the object. Kai began to nibble at the object and nudge at it with his large beak, Asbel ran over to them and noticed it was a body, face in the sand.

"Lord Yupa, you ok?" Asbel turned Yupa's onto his back, Yupa inhaling a deep mouthful of the fresh air.

"Asbel, you made it out of the storm ok, and you found Kui and Kai?" Asbel reached for his canteen and handed it to Yupa.

"I found shelter in a dead ohmu and with my luck they were both hiding there with me, though they scared the living hell out of me, I thought they might have been an insect." Yupa bellowed with laughter and coughed a few times.

"Well it saves me the trouble then, I was wondering why you smelt terrible, at least it covers your bad odour, if it was an insect, it would have been frightened by your smell." Asbel huffed and snatched his canteen back, mounting one of the birds.

"Well then, we have no worries about getting attacked by anything dangerous then, better stick close to me this time or an insect will get you for sure." Yupa laughed and mounted the other bird, following Asbel into the desert.

"I think we should get washed down anyway, Kai and Kui smell pretty lovely and that will increase our chances of attracting predators, the smell of decaying flesh will be a problem." Yupa exclaimed as they set off. Kui made a noise that almost sounded like a giggle which made Asbel smirk. The mountains were in sight, Asbel knew he was close to his old home. They had no choice to head there to wash off the smell to avoid any possible dangers of attracting insects. A feel of remorse crept over Asbel's body, the village of Pedjite hadn't changed. The people of his country had immigrated to the Valley of the Wind after the fight between the countries and the jungle. It was a ruin and grave for the dead, he had never wanted to see his country like this, his home. Yupa headed over to a well and dismounted Kai, lowering the bucket to receive some water. Asbel examined his home, his kingdom. It had crossed his mind several times that he was the last heir to this place since his sister, the princess of Pedjite had died years ago. There was nothing left of this place, only ruins.

Yupa lifted the bucket out of the well and tipped it over Kai, the pure colour of water changed to a muddy-brown as it dripped from the bird's body. Kai fluffed up all his feathers from the feel of the water and started preening his feathers, Kui patently waiting her turn.

"Asbel, hurry up and help me out, forget about these ruins for the time being alright." Asbel trotted over to Yupa and groomed Kai, he still smelled of the dead ohmu, but he was a whole lot better then before. Yupa pulled the next bucket up from the well and threw it at Asbel, the warm water hitting his face and running down his clothes soaking them.

"Wash that dirty face of yours and we'll set out again, hurry up, and I want you to work on getting Kui cleaned up too, can you handle that?" Yupa wandered off at that and into the ruins.

"And where are you going Yupa?" Yupa raised one arm in the air and dropped it. Asbel rolled his eyes and lowered the bucket down the well.

Yupa wandered the dead streets of Pedjite. The walls were smashed in, the roads were un-tidy, even the sky looked polluted above the village. There were still a few large exoskeletons of the ohmus' that had ruthlessly rampaged the place and died. It looked like a surreal painting, where time had stopped. Yupa looked inside a few houses, only to see it empty, but with signs of life once there. Yupa lowered his hat and left to reunite with Asbel, his state was very depressing. Yupa watched Asbel pour the water over Kui, Kui licking the water off her feathers with her long thick tongue. Yupa smiled at the boy. Such life, so young and yet, he had just as many scars as himself. It had been over a year since their last return to the Valley of the Wind, and it was taking its toll on Asbel, though he was trying to hide any signs of homesickness.

"Yupa! Im finished here, lets get going now." Yupa came back to his senses and walked up the boy. He mounted Kai and yanked at his reins, forcing him to turn and hurry out of the village ruins, Asbel and Kui not far behind. Asbel watched from behind Yupa, he seemed to be up to something, he was obviously hiding something. "Yupa, where're we headed?" Yupa ignored Asbel for a moment until he answered.

"Home."


	4. Chapter 4

Nausicaa was led by the children behind the windmills out of sight. There was a tarp laying on the ground with obviously something under it. Nausicaa started to feel curious.

"What is it?" she finally asked, as the boy who was holding her hands pulled the tarp and tried to drag it but it was too heavy for him. All the children pitched in to help until it reveiled a box. Nausicaa looked at the box and picked it up, examining the carved patterns of birds and mammals. It was really a little work of art. "Why are you hiding it here?"

"Mother as going to clean my room today and I didn't want her to find it, and we didn't want anyone else's mother's to find it so we hid it here."

"It's real pretty."

"We thought you might be able to open it."

"It is very rusty; we couldn't open it at all." The children all started chattering as Nausicaa wedged her nails underneath the opening, it was sealed shut.

"Where did you find it? You didn't steal it did you?" The children started bickering angrily.

"No of course not, we found it."

"No I found it!" Nausicaa tucked the box under her arm and smiled at the children.

"May I keep this for a while? I'll find a way to open it and I swear ill inform all of you so you can see what's inside together, how's that sound?" The children's eyes lit up like candles, smiles as wide as their faces. Nausicaa ruffled a girl's hair and headed for the castle to hide the box before starting work. As she tucked the box under her matteress, Mito entered her room in a rush. He was panting heavily like a tired dog, holding himself up in the door frame. "What is it Mito?"

"Lord Yupa has returned, he will be in the Valley soon, we want you down here immediately!" At that, no more had to be said, Nausicaa was out that door as quickly as possible, nearly knocking Mito off his tired feet.

She ran across the fields of the Valley, all the confused faces of the villagers watching her as she skidded through the gardens. She could see the two figures approaching from across the valley, the sun-light revealing the two men and their mounts. She ran up to the older man and flew into a hug, he lifted her up like a father would his own child and placed her down on the ground with a grunt, she was not exactly a child anymore, and he wasn't really young. Nausicaa turned to the other man, a lot younger but he was taller than both of them. She embraced him and quickly pulled away in disgust.

"You smell terrible Asbel, what did you roll in?" Asbel looked at her surprisingly breaking into laughter. He watch her cuddle Kai and Kui and pull away from them just as she did with himself, holding her breath from the stench. "What were you four up to, you smell like something rotten, and how come you don't smell as bad as Asbel, Kai and Kui Lord Yupa? Were you the only one mature enough not to roll in dead animals?" Yupa burst out with laughing and walked with Nausicaa down the Valley, Asbel not far behind.

Asbel soaked in the feeling of the Valley once again, a place he knew as home. He watched the villagers working humbly at their daily chores, waving to them as they past. Some ran towards them into a gathering to welcome them both from their long journey, asking many questions of what they had gone through. Asbel watched Nausicaa laugh and talk happily with Lord Yupa, he'd never seen so much life in her; she looked joyful. He smiled to himself, tugging at the reins of Kai and Kui to hurry along.

"Lord Yupa, we just heard you come back to us! We are glad you are ok….woah you smell like a dump Asbel, what did you get up to?" Mito held his nose to cut away the smell, though Asbel didn't look too content as everyone else.

"You know, it's getting old now, I may as well go wash up then if it's that bad." Asbel snorted and took Kai and Kui towards the river. Everyone laughed together, Nausicaa squeezing through the crowd to catch up with him.

"I'm glad you two returned today, we were all getting worried about you both. So what did you do? You're covered with sand and smell like you haven't washed in months.

"Well the truth is I haven't actually, I haven't washed in more than a month that is." A huge smile stretching across his dirty face. Nausicaa giggled to herself as they got to the river, Kui running in first and taking a bird bath, Kai not far behind. They shook the water off their bodies, splashing Asbel soaking him to the bone. Asbel stepped into the river with the birds and patted them playfully, smiling at them.

"You three get along so well don't you? Nausicaa giggled watching the scene unfold infront of her. Asbel stopped and stared at her dumbly, stepping out of the river after removing the reins and saddles from both birds.

"Well if you had to put up with me you would have no choice would you?" Nausicaa held back a smile and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, we can leave these two to have their bath together, while you go and get yourself one, then you can tell me all about what you and Lord Yupa got up to ok?" Asbel got dragged into the castle if he liked it or not. Nausicaa pushed him into the bathroom to get cleaned and left him alone.

Asbel noticed there was water already prepared for him, with various soap bars around here and there. He slipped into the water, his pores taking in the warm, clean water. It was like heaven, he didn't want to get out of the water. He grabbed some soap and cleaned himself, though it didn't help with his smell, it decided to stay with him for a bit longer. He sunk into the water so only his face was surfaced, he closed his eyes, images of his past journey with Yupa. Crossing the desert, tracking through the jungle for new remedies and possible ohmu shells for weapon materials to take back to the valley. Everything crossed his mind as he relaxed in the water, the Pedjite ruins when he visited with Yupa after the storm. It was the first time he had been there for over four years, since the battle with the ohmu. He sighed and sat up, trying the soap idea again to rid of his smell, this time succeeding. Asbel finally got out of the now cold water and dried himself off to find a new set of clothes placed in the bathroom for him.

He came out of the bathroom and into the main room of the castle to find Nausicaa and Yupa talking. Yupa waved to Asbel and stood up patting his shoulder.

"I see you don't smell anymore, that's good of you, its hard to imagine a whole year of collecting bad smells can all vanish in one hour." Asbel snorted and sat down next to Nausicaa. "I'll have my bath now then, see you both in a bit." At that Yupa was gone. Asbel rocked back and forth on his arse with his knees to his chest. Nausicaa giggled to herself and jumped to her feet.

"Hey c'mon, I wanna hear your stories, come up to my room, you can tell me everything there ok." She snatched his hand and dragged him down the many hallways of the castle. When they got to her room she lit a candle and placed it on a desk. Asbel sat on the end of her bed with Nausicaa sitting in the middle.

"I see you're not working, I guess I came at the perfect time to drag you out of helping then am I right?"

"You could say that, I was supposed to help out with the wheat field today, but I was told you two came back and to attend to both of you immediately. It's not my fault!" Nausicaa cocked an eyebrow and lay back with her arms behind her head for support. "So, what have Yupa and you been up to, I know at the least that you must have been in the desert, with all that sand on you.

"We just came back from the desert, there was a vicious sandstorm and we were lucky to get away from it, and that's where the smell comes in." Nausicaa sat up, eager to hear the story. "I was searching for shelter and I came across a dead ohmu, so I hid inside of it."

"And why were Kai and Kui as bad as you?" Nausicaa cut in quickly.

"Well, they went missing and we were searching for them, which is what got us caught up in the storm in the first place. They turned out to be hiding inside the ohmu too, which is why they smell delicious like I did." Asbel stated with a serious tone, but still trying to make Nausicaa laugh.

Asbel glanced at Nausicaa, he knew why he missed the Valley so much. She was really pretty, and she had brains to top that off. He knew she was out of his reach being the princess of a different country from his own, but just the feeling of having her with him satisfied him enough. Impure thoughts began to flow into his mind, which made him feel awkward around her. Nausicaa tilted her head and looked at Asbel in confusion as he stared into space.

"What's wrong Asbel?" she asked innocently. Asbel tried to hide any sign of what he was thinking about. She placed her hand on his shoulder and shook it slightly, making him wince suddenly.

"Ouch, that hurt." Asbel quickly covered the spot Nausicaa touched with his hand, firmly gripping his shoulder.

"What, are you injured? Let me take a look at that for you." Before Asbel could do anything, she slid his shirt over his shoulder, revealing a large bruise. It was a mix of green around the edge of the bruise and a dark indigo in the centre, it was massive. She shot up and ran towards the wall, pushing it to reveal a door and a flight of stairs behind it. She ran down the staircase and disappeared into the dark passage. Asbel grabbed the candle on the desk next to the bed and followed her down the passage. Before he even got half-way down, she came shooting straight back up, with an assortment of different plant cuttings. Nausicaa placed them on the end of her bed and started examining each one, eyeing Asbel as he sat next to her. She grabbed a dull-green fattish herb looking cutting and pulled Asbel's shirt over his shoulder to reveal his bruise, pressing it against it's centre hard. Asbel's back arched as a loud scream emitted his throat, feeling a warm liquid ooze spilling out of the cutting, making his pain ease away.

"Can you lift your shirt for me, I need to be certain none of your wounds get infected, I know that bruise isn't your only one." Nausicaa fondled through her small pile of cuttings as Asbel reluctantly lifted off his shirt, revealing his cut body. Nausicaa didn't seemed surprised and started grinding the remaining of the plant cuttings in a small grinding bowl until they fashioned into a muggy, thick liquid. Without warning, she covered two of her fingertips with the plant residue and rubbed it over a deep, recovering cut on Asbel's back. Asbel shivered, as it didn't hurt, but the liquid was strange to the skin. She worked over his body until every cut, bruise and beating was attended to. As Asbel pulled his shirt back over his head, he heard a sigh.

"Nausicaa, you seem troubled, what's wrong?" Nausicaa placed the grinding bowl on the desk and returned back to the edge of the bed.

"It feels like it's been ages since Lord Yupa and yourself left, its been quite lonely, even with my people around supporting me, I still felt alone." Asbel felt an urge to comfort her, but restrained to hear her out. "Lord Yupa is like an uncle to me, and with father gone and the whole Valley under my eye from now on, I'm under a lot of pressure. Everyone looks up to me like I have an answer for everything. I love my people, but I just need someone by my side for support."

"You don't need to stress over that, take a break and check out the scenery. Escape working so much and just wander around a bit, as long as you don't get caught you'll be fi…" Asbel stopped as he noticed Nausicaa had tears forming under her eyes. She was holding them back but they weren't cooperating wit her as they just poured out. Asbel sighed in sympathy and pulled her into a firm, comforting hug.

Asbel rubbed her back in consistent slow circles as she cried her eyes out. He felt his chest dampen as the tears crept out. All he could think about was what could be chasing at her mind. She was a strong woman and he knew she still was strong but something was breaking her. It was as if she had been holding her tears forever and finally letting all of her emotions fly in the instant outburst. The uneven staggering breaths pulling in and out of her chest made him worry, he felt he was responsible for not coming back sooner for her. He felt a surge in his stomach, something he hadn't felt for a long time. He held back the sensation and gently pushed Nausicaa out of the hug, sitting her in an upright position. She wiped her eyes with an arm and looked at him confused.

"Nausicaa, Asbel, you both up here? Come down now, its time for dinner, you better hurry or it'll get cold." Asbel stood up and took Nausicaa's hand.

"What it's that late already?" Nausicaa managed to whisper under her sniffling breaths. Asbel chuckled playfully to cheer her up and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his face and down at his chest, letting out a silent laugh. Asbel looked down at his chest in surprise to see it soaked to his stomach with tears.

"Look Nausciaa at what you did, I only just changed into these." Nausicaa skipped to the door, like as if she hadn't been upset at all before.

"Well dinner is getting cold, you better hurry then if you what it while its hot." At that, she was down the hallways of the castle. Asbel shook his head puzzled and soon followed her to the eating quarters of the castle.


	5. Chapter 5

After dinner everyone gathered inside and around the castle, all eager to meet Lord Yupa and Asbel after their year's absence; muttering and bickering to eachother in waiting. Yupa peered out one of the castle windows and laughed to himself before turning towards the others.

"Shouldn't they all be out working? Are we really all that important Yubaba?" Yubaba, perched on a rug in the centre of the room cackled out loud and coughed violently shortly after.

"Everything's been so dead here, despite peace being restored there is no happening, your return is like a chaos which they desire, so you better brace yourself you fool." Yupa snorted and rolled his eyes. Asbel to Yubaba's right smiled to himself to be elbowed by Yubaba hard in his ribs. "I may be blind but I'm not dumb young boy, I can tell you think I am acting senile but I'm more smart than the three of you put together and multiplied I tell you, and more beautiful too to add. If I wasn't so old I'd have men flocking to me like crows in a corn field."

Nausicaa looked at Yupa and then to Asbel and put on the most immature of grins, hiding back a painful laugh that would have her on the ground holding her sides to prevent them from splitting. Yupa walked out of the room and down a flight of stairs to his awaiting people, screams rising as they met his figure declining down the stairs, Asbel scuttling to his feet not far behind. Nausicaa sat with her feet pushed together, hands cupped around them, rocking back and forth, until she fell on her back and lay there. Yubaba adjusted her seating on the rug and turned to her, hand out to find her, placing it on her stomach.

"Nausicaa dear, did you do any work today as you were told?" Nausicaa rolled onto her belly and groaned by the sound of Yubaba's voice, few strands of hair covering her face.

"I didn't get time to, as I was heading to the fields Lord Yu…"

"So you didn't hmm?" Yubaba cut in, cocking an eyebrow. "Tourists more important than helping out for the future harvest, which will hopefully get us through the upcoming winter eh? You aren't getting out of it tomorrow young lady, unless you loss a leg I'm going to make sure that you get your stuff together and do some work, everyone must pitch in and help out around here. Why if I wasn't so old I'll be working till I drop each day, unlike these other lazy buggers like yourself." Nausicaa's eyes drooped at the nagging, half taking in what was said, unable to get any words in-between Yubaba's sentences. Yubaba smiled and slapped Nausicaa unintentially on the arse missing her back and laughed, bringing herself to her feet and waddling towards some stairs, heading up them into the sleeping quarters. Nausicaa shot up and headed outside, Yubaba's laughing ringing through her head like a church-bell; obviously Yubaba's age was getting to her.

Nausicaa noticed the crowed vanished from the castle entrance, lights visible from the commoners' houses. She headed towards the lit lights and commotion, taking in what Yubaba told her, rubbing her arse at the same time. Nausicaa looked up at the sky, nearly dark and very few stars out, she noted to herself not to stay up too late as she was defiantly going to work early the next morning. She let off a deep sigh, loud laughter emitting from the villagers, most likely stories were being passed around, jokes, dancing, all that of the sort. Nausicaa had a sunken feeling in her gut, that if she came into the commotion it would all stop; the enjoyment dying by her presense. She stopped in her tracks and began to turn around back to the castle, being pulled into the shadows by a figure. Nausicaa elbowed into the attacker's stomach, breaking free of his grasp, turning around and pressing her forearm into his throat, knee to the crutch; defiantly a male attacker.

"What is it you want?" She whispered to the attacker, not wanting to be seen. The attacker was gasping for air and shaking from the shock of her actions. Nausicaa slid her forearm from his throat and gripped his shirt collar with her hand and pulled him out into the light, revealing him to be Asbel, releasing him immediately. Asbel rubbed his throat a few times with his hand and signaled her back in the shadows while still gasping for air.

"Damn it, why do you have to be such a violent woman god damn it…I wanted to ask you something but I don't want to be seen right now." Nausicaa cocked an eyebrow and giggled a little.

"Why's that? Escaping the commotion are you? Not the partying type hmm?" Asbel rolled his eyes, though she couldn't see since they were in the dark.

"I don't like being crowded like that, so many questions, and a lot of them the same as the one before, so I left Yupa to fend for himself, he's better at this sort of thing than me."

"How do you know that? You've only been with him a little while, what? Four years you've been with him and I'm definite you don't know him nearly as much as I do.

"Oh he is way more the party guy than myself, we stopped at a country to the west about midyear and he stayed up all night chatting with the higher-ups, and he was still fine in the morning, I wouldn't blame him if he is a bit of a ladies man there, would have been the only way I would have stayed up all night there, the women were gorgeous!" A thought crossed Nausicaa's mind and she flicked his forehead, Asbel taking a while to take in what she had done it for.

"So what was it you wanted to ask me about then?" Nausicaa bloated out straight to him, hands on hips.

"Oh, well I wanted you to come with me to Pedjite to do a bit of exploring, I fear there is something going on there. It may seem all dead and gone but I belive there is more there than ruins, such as where they dug that monster out of the ground? Maybe there are some underground caves where that thing was, I certainly wasn't there when they dug it out and they had the hole filled in and closed off when I was near the scene."

"Why didn't you check the place out while you were with Lord Yupa then?"

"He didn't stay there for too long, we only stopped there for water really and headed back here. But I need you to come with me without Yupa, you travel light on that glider, while the birds stand out like beacons in the desert, not to mention they eat like oxes and run off into sandstorms. So what do you say?" Nausicaa scratched her chin for a few seconds and placed a palm on Asbel's shoulder with a firm grip. He imagined a smile on her face but wasn't sure, maybe a more serious expression perhaps.

"So when we headed out then?"


	6. Chapter 6

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't been writing this fic for over a year so im a little rusty, I read it over myself before writing this chapter and realized how many mistakes are thrown in the story, and some dialogue that you wouldn't ever hear from these characters. From reading it before I found Nausicaa sounded like a little kid, always giggling in my story instead of the serious and tree hugging person she is, I might have to go back and edit it a little, there also is quite a bit of Aussie slang in there…..ill have to scratch some of it despite how amusing it is to think I wrote like that Now back to the story, sorry for anyone who has actually been waiting on this to continue, but ive got a life and school still!

Nausicaa was in her room packing small essentials in her pouch that she has attached to her belt when she rides her glider to save on weight. A candle rests on her bed-side table next to the little ohmu shell Asbel gave her a year ago, the flame reflecting a beautiful range of hot colours onto the table through the hollow husk. She had all the little things she needed running through her brain, excluding things she thought weren't completely necessary for the quick trip to Pejite. From the Valley to Pejite it was only a couple of days to arrive, depending on how the winds fared and if any sandstorms decide to intervene, and she was certain Asbel wasn't planning a two or three hour stay, she knew they'd be there for more than a day depending on if they find anything.

Nausicaa counted the items in her pouch and power-walked down to her secrete study, flicking on a flame in search of her blade in which she trims her plants to gather up some herbs for possible injuries. Yubaba taught her which herbs worked for each kind of injury, disease, inflammation, etc and she was getting the hang of mixing them into the right concoction. Her study was discovered by a maid of the castle while she was cleaning Nausicaa's room and had a panick attack, calling the men in the fields to burn all the plants so the "miasma" in the plants wouldn't spread, dispite not realizing the plants wernt releasing any when she found them. To Nausicaa's distress she came to an ash-covered room filled with very content burly men holding their fire-rods proudly. After that little incident she gave up on growing the toxic plants and grew medical herbs from different villages and countries, to put the villagers at ease.

Nausicaa shoved all the clippings into a thin fur-pocket which went inside her pouch to separate the herbs from the other items that lay inside. The fragrance was intoxicating, a mixture of bitter-sweet trying to overwhelm eachother. She remembered some men in the village mentioning to her that she could burn the herbs in a pipe like you would tobacco to relieve stress; she was interested unaware that they weren't speaking in a medical sense until she mentioned it to Yubaba later that day, running out to find the men she was speaking with to scowl them. It all made sense to her now when the same men had asked for a particular mixture of herbs often after the village became aware of her medical garden; she made a mental note to lock the door before she left for her trip to avoid any "creatures of the night" from entering.

"Nausicaa! Hurry up we have to go soon before light!" a muffled voice called out, she figured it was Asbel ready to go. Nausicaa smiled, buttoned up her pouch and ran up the stairs; closing the door to her secret study before collecting up some odds and ends she had sprawled out on her bed. As she gathered up the objects, she felt something hard under the matteress.

"What's this?" she lifted the corner to reveal the little box the children had given her. She held it up to the light of a candle that stood on her bed-side table to marvel at the petite carvings. "I'll take this with me, shouldn't take up that much room." At that she placed it down her top (since her pouch was quite full), blew out the candle and headed out her door, remembering to lock it from her previous "mental note".

When she turned around, she spotted Asbel at the end of the castle corridor and joined him.

"Got everythi….whats that under your shirt?" Asbel stared at the square object between her breasts puzzled, then realized he was looking at her inappropriately, however for his luck Nausicaa either didn't realize or didn't care.

"Oh, this? It's a strange box some of the children gave me, ive been trying to open it and figured I take it with me, wont take up any room im sure. I've made sure to gather up some herbs incase we get ourselves into trouble, and some candles too." She buttoned up her shirt and quickly went down the stairs of the castle and outside, Asbel not too far behind.

They made their way to the watchtower where Nausicaa kept her glider, Nausicaa quickly ran up the steps with one hand running along the cylinder-shaped wall. They spotted a man ontop of the tower dressed in a thick-tanned poncho like coat to keep warm in the chilly wind.

"Hello there Princess, what brings you here tonight?" the man shivered as the coat made a slapping noise in the wind.

"Im taking off with Asbel to Pejite, he thinks something is going on there, it'll only be for a few days, a week perhaps." The man rubbed his hands together, Asbel and Nausicaa were wearing pelts under their clothes so they didn't feel the cold, she was guessing this man hadn't put any extra clothes on, and was probably up here for some time on watch.

"Have you told anyone of your leave? No one mentioned you were leaving tonight." Asbel spotted the glider folded up under a tarp on the tower and began setting it up; unfolding its wings to give a hint he was getting impatient. Nausicaa took in notice and nodded, turning back to the man she was talking to.

"In the morning, I want you to tell Yupa we will be gone for a week and not to worry; if he knew before we went he would stall us, we are in a hurry while the winds are in our favour blowing west. Make sure you don't freeze good sir."

At that she mounted the gilder, Asbel removing its anchor (a rope attached to a stake, not the metal hook shaped ones for boats for those dumb people out there).

"Ill see you again in a week sir!" was the last words the man heard before the white glider was already out of sight in the ash-grey sky, heading towards the newborn sun.


	7. Chapter 7

AUTHORS NOTE: hopefully I'll be more regular now, I have quite a lot of this story from memory in my head so im trying to write it down before I forget it. Lets just hope my writing doesn't falter, ive been doing all English class essays so Im not used to free writing anymore.

The vast desert-wasteland of Eftal seemed as if endless. However it was evident of previous luscious life before; with skeletons of mangrove-like trees littering some areas, serving as shelter for small life-forms that have evolved to survive the harsh conditions born under. The odd corpses of insects were seen here and there; most likely from being flushed out by predators from the bordering forest to venture out into the desert to dehydrate or burn under the hot sun. The sand was golden and bronze, like a metallic sea reflecting the sun-rays from above giving off a radiating heat of sorts. It was starting to get unbearable with the pelts still on under both Asbel and Nausicaa's clothing from the chilly morning back at the Valley, but now it was at the peak of the day and it wasn't getting any cooler any time soon.

"Let's stop soon! It's starting to get hard to breath under this mask!" he wore his cloth mask to stop sand from getting in his mouth, the miasma hadn't reached the desert yet so masks to stop poison from entering the lungs was pointless here and would heat up ones' face quickly in the desert heat.

Nausicaa doesn't reply and keeps flying as if she hadn't heard him. She scans the landscape to find something to rest by, spotting a deep gully that was shaded by a hill of sand, although it would be for long. She lowered the glider towards the spot and pulled it back to make it land softly, tearing off her cap, goggles and cloth-mask quickly to inhale fresh air.

"Finally! My back has burnt through my shirt!" and at that she ripped off her shirt to tear away the warm-pelts revealing only her singlet underneath. She also removed her gaiters (those "leg-warmers", we call them gaiters in Australia so I have no idea the name elsewhere) and some pelts she had under the gaiters. They were wringing wet with sweat and sand despite being covered by a second layer of clothing the sand managed to get through, Asbel wasn't any better off, his layers of clothes came off as quickly as Nausicaa's had to get those pelts off.

"We should have gone a lot earlier, we could have beaten this heat if we didn't stop and talk to that watchman." Asbel groaned as he folded up his pelts and hid them away in the little hull inside the glider. He grabbed Nausicaa's pelts as well, which were carelessly discarded in the sand only to get dirtier.

"We didn't talk long, it probably wasn't even five minutes, we could have left this a day or two so we could have prepared better. And your wounds arn't in very good nick either, which reminds me that I have to re-apply some more of that herb-ointment on you again." Asbel cringed as he remembered that weird feeling of the ooze rubbed into his sores, it sort of felt like wind blowing into the cut, and a foam clogging up the hole at the same time, leaving a cool temperature on his skin even though the plant was room temperature.

"Well we cant do that now, it would be pointless since I'm filthy, it'll have to wait until Pejite, can you pass me your canteen? Mine is on its way out." Asbel said to change the subject, motioning to his empty canteen by shaking it upside down. Nausicaa reached for her belt, unhooked it and passed it to him.

"Don't swallow too fast, you might drink too much, we still have an hour or so until we get to Pejite, not that much further depending on how the wind fares." Nausicaa buried her hand into her pouch and pulled out a piece of a hard biscuit like food and cracked it in half, passing one end to Asbel in return for the canteen.

"Oh, thanks, a shame there isn't anything to go with it, some goat-cheese or a slab of smoked ham would be nice on this hey?" Nausicaa giggled as she bit a corner off her end and rolled it around in her mouth for it to soften enough for swallowing.

"Soldiers live off these biscuits you know, they are lucky if they ever get anything to go with them, but the carbs will keep you going anyway." She bit off some more of her biscuit and repreated the sequence again. Asbel looked at his piece sullenly and took a bite, overerestimating the durable biscuit and biting through his tounge.

"Shit!...awww bloody 'ell, shit, shit, shit that hurt, curse your biscuits Nausicaa!" Asbel buried his face in his hands in pain as Nausicaa looked at him stunned before bursting out in laughter.

"Well now you have flavor to go with your biscuit!" Nausicaa said in amusement, as Asbel tried again with his biscuit, being more careful this time. Nausicaa put the rest of her biscuit in her pouch and stood up again, heading towards her glider with no remark from the Asbel in pain.

"We better move, the sun is starting to hit this spot." She pointed at the ground as she put on her cap, googles and cloth-mask for flight; the shade from the sand hill was defiantly smaller than it was when they first landed. Asbel joined her with biscuit in hand, shoving the whole thing in his mouth, it just fitting; the pointed edges visible in his cheeks.

"Be'er soona t'an lai'er eh g'ess" Asbel mumbled through the biscuit in his mouth as he mounted his place under Nausicaa on the glider as she performed a take off, the glider catching the wind as she rose above the hill in a quick take off.

Before they knew it the mountains that shielded the Pejite "ruins" came into view. The carcasses of the ohmu and inscects from all those years ago had hollowed, only the empty shells of the larger insects remain scattered in pieces across the sand, the rest buried deep beneath the layers of earth from the shifting winds. No rain had fallen on Pejite since its fall so no spores had survived and sprouted in the bodies of the dead like it had done in all the other villages. Perhaps being so close to the desert could be something to do with lack of rain, but they should still be getting at least some sort of moisture.

They both peered down at the ruins bellow them; buildings toppled over and covered in sand. A once populated and prosperous country just completely annihilated and abandoned was an eye-sore to both Nausicaa and Asbel, and they knew if the former people of Pejite had seen this they would all become depressed.

"Ok we can land there, a well still has water at the bottom here so we can refill our canteens and take a look around." Nausicaa nodded and lowered her glider in a cleared area. They dismounted it, Nausicaa folding its wings and wedging it underneath some debris to prevent it from drifting off in any strong winds. Asbel headed straight for the well and started to pull the rope that had the bucket attached, receiving a full bucket of crystal clear water.

"Fill up mine as well please, and try to wash yourself so I can clean your wounds better." Asbel cringed at that, nearly dropping her canteen as she threw it to him.

"Im going to scout ahead, if anything happens call out to me alright? It wont be dark until a few hours, so ill meet with you here later." Asbel went to protest but she was already gone into the hollow husk of a city.

**The biscuits in the story are based off the biscuits the army had to live on in war times, a teacher I had once told me they got rations of these huge square rock hard biscuits that were bigger than a hand which were tasteless (stale mind you) that they would have to bite so hard just to crack them, however they got tins of minced meat to go with their biscuits occasionally which "softened" them slightly and added flavour. I thought they would be a good travel food since they last months without going bad. They arnt chocolate chip biscuits/cookies, just flat, boring cracker like.


End file.
